World of Make-Believe: Khirsten's Story

Untitled Part 12

Khirsten opened her eyes and saw...

"War." Devon's voice carried over the still land like a death sentence.

Khirsten pulled her gaze from the wreckage to him. His face was twisted and tight. His eyes were dark and far away.

He looked towards the ones he brought here, "This battle happened while you were attacked. This is why we had to leave. My people, my kin, my family called to me. And I couldn't save them." He clenched his fist, Khirsten noticed then that it was wrapped. He had been injured. "So many I knew died. This land was my land, this grass tickled me when I was young, this tree," His hand rested upon the crisp stump, "it was once so majestic and large. I would climb it as a young fae. And now... it's gone forever."

He turned to Khirsten, "Do you now see why we must fight? They don't want to stop here." He added, "They will do this to your family, to your friends, to your home."

Khirsten suddenly imagined herself in a future where the Unseelie had attacked the mortal realm unrivaled. Elk was in flames, her family- Lisa and Joe shackled and bound, hurt and broken, her friends... Bo and them, dead. Everything was in agony or lifeless. She closed her eyes, her breath hitched as warm tears pressed against her eyes. then she felt warm, strong arms around her, lifting her back to her feet.

"That won't happen." Joe promised, clutching to Khirsten. he looked into her face, "We can do it." He encouraged, "We can fight them, keep them at bay, win. But you have to be stronger than this. Braver than this." He wiped away a stray tear, "You have the power that I don't There's only so much I can do in this world. It isn't mine, everything about it either tries to enchant me or kill me. I am not made for this magic."

Khirsten looked to the ground, "I... What can I do? This is on land? I'm Selkie, I'm made for the water, I can't contact my magic here."

Chelsea stifled a sudden giggle, "Of course you can! You've been doing it your whole life, you just haven't cultivated it." At Khirsten's clueless look Chelsea elaborated, "Feeling people's emotions, your hypnotic voice, hearing the ocean speak to you-"

"Actually," Joe smirked, "We found out that's just a giant monster that has sort of enslaved the Selkies of that area."

"Actually," Devon interrupted, "That's the first Selkie goddess transformed by the darkness." His eyes pierced Khirsten, "As someone once told me 'you die a hero or live long enough to see yourself become the villain'."

"That's Batman." Chelsea corrected, "More specifically Two-Face from Batman."

He looked at her with a superior gaze, "Nerd."

"Noob." She poked him in the ribs.

"Alright you two." Joe interrupted, "We get it. You two are so cute and blah-blah couples stuff vomit."

"Joe." Khirsten scolded, turning to Devon, "So she's just... evil now?"

Devon sighed, rolling his eyes, "I've explained this to Chelsea too, all fae are on a grey scale from white to black. White being wholly good, black being completely evil. Very few creatures are completely one way or the other, almost all are somewhere in the middle. Selkies are a somewhat more wholesome version of their mermaid cousins. However, everything is corruptible to become a darker version of itself."

"Can anything become a purer version of itself?" She asked.

"Eh... well, it's extremely unheard of. It's very difficult to defeat basic nature." He responded hesitantly, "For instance, a wolf can not just stop eating meat and killing animals because it is a wolf. If it does it will die."